Bill named for Alamance man

Mary Jo and Bruce Collins to the right of Gov. Pat McCrory at bill's signing Tuesday.

By Steve Huffman / Times-News

Published: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 05:56 PM.

Duffy’s Law is now law.

Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill — which honors Duffy Collins, the only son of Alamance County’s Mary Jo and Bruce Collins — into law Tuesday in his office in the state capital.

“It was great,” Mary Jo Collins said. “The governor was very appreciative. He almost acted like we were doing him a favor.”

The law designates every April as organ donation awareness/donate life month in North Carolina. The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Dennis Riddell and in the Senate by Rep. Rick Gunn. Both are Republicans who represent Alamance County in the legislature. Both attended the signing.

Duffy Collins suffered from an auto-immune disease that destroyed his kidneys. He died in 2005 at the age of 28 for the lack of a kidney transplant.

The bill that McCrory signed Tuesday states that 116,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant nationally, and 3,500 of those are residents of North Carolina. It states that 18 people die each day while waiting for transplants and one organ might save as many as eight lives and improve the lives of 50 people.

Mary Jo Collins said McCrory signed the bill, then handed her the pen he used. She said that when the governor learned she and her husband had a picture of their son, he asked to see it, then posed with it.

Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill — which honors Duffy Collins, the only son of Alamance County’s Mary Jo and Bruce Collins — into law Tuesday in his office in the state capital.

“It was great,” Mary Jo Collins said. “The governor was very appreciative. He almost acted like we were doing him a favor.”

The law designates every April as organ donation awareness/donate life month in North Carolina. The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Dennis Riddell and in the Senate by Rep. Rick Gunn. Both are Republicans who represent Alamance County in the legislature. Both attended the signing.

Duffy Collins suffered from an auto-immune disease that destroyed his kidneys. He died in 2005 at the age of 28 for the lack of a kidney transplant.

The bill that McCrory signed Tuesday states that 116,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant nationally, and 3,500 of those are residents of North Carolina. It states that 18 people die each day while waiting for transplants and one organ might save as many as eight lives and improve the lives of 50 people.

Mary Jo Collins said McCrory signed the bill, then handed her the pen he used. She said that when the governor learned she and her husband had a picture of their son, he asked to see it, then posed with it.

“I feel so honored,” she said. “Every bit of work that went into this was justified. My husband and I were so pleased.”

More information about Duffy Collins, as well as information about how to register as an organ donor, can be found at the Duffy Collins Organ Transplant Foundation website at: www.duffycollinsfoundation.org.

The bill received considerable support from officials with Donate Life North Carolina. Officials with the organization said North Carolina has the nation’s sixth-largest donor registry, with 4.3 million participants. Despite that number, fewer than 50 percent of the state’s drivers have designated themselves as organ donors on their licenses — the most common means by which individuals register as such.